As investigation continues on the alleged N585.2 million fraud at the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC, has kicked against running of the Ministry by the Permanent Secretary, Abel Enitan.
The Executive Director, CISLAC, Auwal Rafsanjani, in a statement made available to newsmen over the weekend, described Enitan’s appointment as improper, stating that because he supposed to be on suspension and investigated as well, based on the fact that the N585.2 million fraud allegedly happened under his nose as the Permanent Secretary.
Enitan was appointed to take over the affairs of the Ministry following the suspension of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Beta Edu by President Bola Tinubu.
According to Rafsanjani who doubles as the Head of Transparency International in Nigeria, Ministers work on recommendations of civil servants led by the Permanent Secretary.
He said: “The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)/Transparency International in Nigeria received with utter disappointment, the appointment of the Permanent Secretary the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Abel Olumuyiwa Enitan to run the Ministry.
“Appointment of Enitan to head the Ministry will certainly undermine the credibility and respect accorded the current administration.
“It is not acceptable that Mr Enitan, the accounting officer of the Ministry involved in such scandal should be allowed to supervise the Ministry.”
Meanwhile, he pointed out that there is possibility of compromising the ongoing Investigations by the EFCC, and cautioned that the action by appointing Enitan to run the affairs of the Ministry would erode the trust of Nigerians of the allegations, therefore accused the government of “planning a river of the heist and abuse of public trust.”
He pointed out that, “By our extant regulations and laws, the Permanent Secretary is the accounting officer who should have been suspended along with the Minister.
“Ministers work on recommendations of civil servants led by the Permanent Secretary. There is no evidence that the Permanent did not participate in the matters being investigated. In any case, the Permanent Secretary did not object to what happened and should be a subject of investigations.
“We are seriously perturbed that top officers who are connected with approvals and sanctions of financial and procurement process within the Ministry like the Permanent Secretary are yet to be suspended or subjected to thorough investigation till their innocent is proven; instead they are promoted to sensitive positions, where the ongoing investigation could easily be hampered or sabotaged.
